Here we have the war hopefully coming to an end with a...

Here we have the war hopefully coming to an end with a dramatically good outcome we hope.

A very large portion of the world agrees the war should have happened but with UN approval.

The real impediment to that - perhaps the only impediment to that - was the indication France was going to veto the proposal. Germany didnt indicate a veto would occur from them and Russia made a few noises but were coming around.

So the only real reason no UN sanctioning occured was due to France's position.

Humanitarian? Moral? Ethical? Peace-loving?

Hardly! Read the article and in particular the bolded part.

What I dont understand is this:
* it is a fact that most people were for the war if there was UN approval and
*it is a fact France turned out to be the main, perhaps only real reason it wasnt forth-coming and
*YET although the facts set out below were there for the reading -
- - so many otherwise intelligent people chose to ignore it???


U.S. going back to U.N. on Iraq
Powell to seek resolutions, as council members plot next step

April 10, 2003 5:00 p.m. Eastern

The United States plans to start a new round of diplomacy with the United Nations now that Saddam Hussein's regime has been driven from power.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the U.S. will seek new resolutions from the Security Council regarding management details in post-war Iraq.

"We need an endorsement of the authority, an endorsement of what we're doing in order to begin selling oil in due course, and in order to make sure that the humanitarian supplies continue to flow in the oil-for-food program," Powell told the paper.

Diplomatic relations among the members of the global body are in need of rebuilding. In the face of intransigence on the part of France over the use of military force to disarm Iraq, the U.S. and United Kingdom abandoned diplomacy last month and prosecuted the war with the backing of more than 40 countries.

Powell said he envisions these coalition partners playing the "leading role" in the rebuilding, with U.S. military commanders likely selecting members of Iraq's future government based on who they identify as the inherent leaders in the various neighborhoods and communities.

The Times reports a special White House envoy Zalmay Khalilzad will soon head to the region to set up an interim government that will assume power once hostilities subside.

"We'll start it in the region that we have the greatest control over, and the part of the country where people have now the greatest freedom to speak up and stand up," Powell explained.

But Powell also indicated the U.N. should now play a "vital role" in Iraq. President Bush made a similar pronouncement on Tuesday.

"Vital" isn't good enough for those Security Council members opposed to the U.S.-led war from the beginning.

While French officials hail the fall of Baghdad, they continue to insist the U.N. should control what happens next.

"Together, we now have to build peace in Iraq and for France that means the United Nations must play a central role," said French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

French President Jacques Chirac is slated to meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russia President Vladimir Putin – the other two chief European opponents of the war – in St. Petersburg tomorrow to discuss the future of Iraq. They're expected to map out a strategy to oppose U.S. and UK efforts to lead the reconstruction.

European leaders will also address the issue at an EU summit in Athens next Wednesday.

With no plans of attending the St. Petersburg summit, Beijing has been working behind the scenes to play a role.

The official China News Service quoted Wu Chunhua, head of the Chinese foreign ministry's department of West Asian and North African Affairs, as stating, "we shall try our best to fight for and safeguard China's interests in Iraq's post-war reconstruction."

Among the "interests" he cited is "a few hundreds of millions of dollars" in debts and other unpaid bills owed the government.

There is evidence France, Germany, Russia and China seek more than just the renewal of relevance for the U.N. with regards to Iraq.

According to an analysis by The Heritage Foundation, these countries have much at stake in Iraq. And for France and Russia, the continuation of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq means billions:

France

*France controls over 22.5 percent of Iraq's imports.

*In 2001 France became Iraq’s largest European trading partner.

*France's largest oil company, Total Fina Elf, negotiated extensive oil contracts to develop the Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq, which have the potential to provide a gross return near $650 billion.

*France's Alcatel company, a major telecom firm, is negotiating a $76 million contract to rehabilitate Iraq's telephone system.

*In 2001 French carmaker Renault SA sold $75 million worth of farming equipment to Iraq.

Germany

*Direct trade between Germany and Iraq amounts to about $350 million annually, and another $1 billion is reportedly sold through third parties.

*Last November, a German company signed a contract with Baghdad for $80 million for 5,000 cars and spare parts.

*In 2002, DaimlerChrysler was awarded over $13 million in contracts for German trucks and spare parts.

*Germany is owed billions by Iraq in foreign debt generated during the 1980’s.

Russia

*Russia controls roughly 5.8 percent of Iraq's annual imports.

*Russia's LUKoil negotiated a $4 billion, 23-year contract in 1997 to rehabilitate the 15 billion-barrel West Qurna field in southern Iraq. Work on the oil field was expected to commence upon cancellation of U.N. sanctions on Iraq. The deal is currently on hold.

*In October 2001, Salvneft, a Russian–Belarus company, negotiated a $52 million service contract to drill at the Tuba field in Southern Iraq.

*In April 2001, Russia's Zaruezhneft and Tatneft companies received a service contract to drill in the Saddam, Kirkuk, and Bai Hassan fields to rehabilitate the fields and reduce water incursion. Together the deals were valued at $13.2 million.

*A future $40 billion Iraqi–Russian economic agreement, reportedly signed in 2002, would allow for extensive oil exploration opportunities throughout western Iraq.

*Russia's Gazprom Company over the past few years has signed contracts worth $18 million to repair gas stations in Iraq.

China

*China controls roughly 5.8 percent of Iraq's annual imports.

*China National Oil Company, partnered with China North Industries Corp., negotiated a 22-year-long deal for future oil exploration in the Al Ahdab field in southern Iraq.[

*The U.N. oil-for-food program approved a contract for the Chinese Aero-Technology Import–Export Company to sell "meteorological satellite" and "surface observation" equipment to Iraq, along with $2 million worth of fiber optic cables.

*China National Electric Wire & Cable and China National Technical Import Telecommunications Equipment Company are believed to have sold Iraq $6 million and $15.5 million worth of communications equipment and other unspecified supplies, respectively.
Vested interests aside, what does Iraq want? One exile objects to the U.N. running the show.

"We don't want the U.N. As an Iraqi I can tell you, I don’t, we don't want the U.N. The U.N. is very corrupt and very inefficient," Dr. Khidhir Hamza, former director of Saddam’s nuclear weapons program, told CBN News.

Hamza said he supports the approach being taken by the U.S.

"I think the structure being headed up by the former U.S. Gen. Jay Garner looks like the right combination of U.S. experts together with something like around 100 Iraqi ex-patriots, and it will be complemented from local talents ... And they would run, more or less, the services and put back a government that could function without the major Saddam elements that did crimes or that the new government is unable to incorporate in the new structure," he said.